


Story of Er'isa

by ShinyHalo115



Series: Tales from Faraway Galaxy [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Alien Mythology/Religion, Chiss Ascendancy (Star Wars), Csilla, Fictional History, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Orphanage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2020-08-10 21:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20142514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinyHalo115/pseuds/ShinyHalo115
Summary: Ar'alani visits her daughter in the orphanage.





	1. The Gathering

Er'isa sat alone in the gray library which was located in the underground half of the large orphanage while the other kids were outside playing tripleball, throwing snowballs, or sitting together under trees. The planet Csilla spent three out of four seasons covered in snow storms and darkness, and the best way to travel was the subway system, which every major building was connected to, but in the summer the storms stopped, and everyone wanted to be outside. Last year she wanted to play tripleball but none of the kids would pick her, so she ended up making snowballs by herself and made a Circle of Snowballs that she would sit inside until one of the noisy boys stomped on it. Today, she need the quiet so she could focus so she could be prepared for whatever test Director Yan'na from the Defense Fleet gave her.

Every year people from the Defense Fleet visit all the orphanages and schools throughout the Chiss Ascendancy to choose seven-year olds to join them. Nobody knew why they were doing it, but it made sense to her that they would choose mostly girls, because most boys were immature poodooheads.

Er'isa wanted them to pick her. Not only has she been doing her homework and passing her tests in the past year, but she asked the barber to cut her dark blue hair shorter to make her appear older. If she joined the Defense Fleet, then she could leave the friendless orphanage and not only go on adventures but also be around people who appreciated and wanted her.

She turned her head to look at the large picture of the three Chiss deities: The Warrior, who guided the Ancestors' ship to Csilla and gave them strength and the red eyes and blue skin of their race; the Dream Goddess, who made the crops grow in the underground greenhouses and guides spirits of the dead to the Dreamworld to live there permanently; and the Wise One, who unlike the other two had no gender and gave the Chiss intelligence and art. During the Spring Equinox holiday the orphanage would do an annual play for the Mith family and others of the Three Beings. She wanted to play the Wise One, but Headmaster Alva'rez'ot insisted she be one of the masked nature spirits. She hoped the Warrior will guide her path out of here, and the Wise One to give her intelligence.

Alva'rez'ot was in his office waiting. He received a message from the representative that she wanted to meet privately before the official ceremony. His servant opened the door and a woman walked in.

"Vice Admiral Ar'alani, what are you doing here?" he said. He had known her since before she joined the service, back when she was True Born Mith'ar'alani, who was going to marry the Merit Adoptive Mith'ra'naudo, who use to attend this very orphanage.

"I needed to see her before I leave," she said. "I've been promoted and will leave on an extended mission far from home for who knows how long."

No need to ask her "her" was. About seven years ago, Mith'ra'naudo was exiled from the Ascendancy, and she immediately joined the Defense Fleet, giving up her family name, to seek out the unknown threats her partner insisted was out there. About two months later she contacted him to pull some strings to arrange for her to give birth in secret.

Ar'alani use to secretly visit the orphanage until about five years ago when he convinced her that it was best if she stayed away to avoid discovery and so she wouldn't get too attached to a child she cannot raise. Even though those who joined the military gave up their family names and loyalty, it would still bring scandal to the Mith family if one of their True Borns were removed from service for having a child. The elders would not only punish him for keeping a secret from them, but doubly punish him for letting the scandal out.

"How is Theris?" she asked.

_"Er'isa _ is a very smart girl, but she has no signs of the Gift. However, I will still be doing the test on all of them to be sure." The purpose of the Gathering was to find those rare children with the Gift, and he had no doubt that if Er'isa had it, there was a chance that Ar'alani would put her on her own ship so they could be together, despite the risk of discovery.

Ar'alani straightened. "I want all the children who are seven in the Main Hall in half an hour," she said in the voice of an Admiral instead of a mother.

The children lined up in alphabetical order, standing straight like they were taught to. Since most of the building consisted of shades of white and gray, their burgundy uniforms made them stand out. Er'isa had seen Director Yan'na before, and the woman in front of them was not her. She wore a uniform of white pants and a white long-sleeved blouse, with a black sash going across her chest and a black belt.

"I am Admiral Ar'alani of the Chiss Defense Fleet," she said. Her boots echoed as she walked down the line of children. "I have no doubt that all of you will be an asset to the Ascendancy one day, but the Headmaster and I will be interviewing each of you in his office to see if one of you may join the service immediately." She stopped walking. "You there, what's your name?"

"Admiral, I am Er'isa. I hope that one of us may be worthy of such an honor." She kept her hands behind her back and her gaze forward just like a soldier to impress her.

There was a pause, then the Admiral started walking again. "The first child in line will come upstairs with us for the interview. After you are done you will come back down here and the next child will come."

There were exactly fourteen kids in front of her. This was going to be a long wait. 


	2. The Test

The black chair Er'isa sat in seemed too big for her. The room was full of dark colors, making Admiral Ar'alani, who was seated at the desk in front of her, stand out in her white uniform. Headmaster Alva-rez-ot was behind Er'isa, drinking what she assumed to be wine because it was in glass, something she had never seen him do before. Last month a teacher said that the yellow hue in glass was caused by a compound that prevented it from shattering.

"Tell me the history of the Chiss," the Admiral said.

_I got this._

"About 28 to 27 thousand years ago, humanoids colonized Csilla, starting with the southern continent. There was an Ice Age that lasted from 25 to 16 thousand years ago, which made everyone start to live mostly underground. During that time, about 23 thousand years ago, a group of people called the Pavtopas began to inhabit the Csuna continent, and 20 thousand years ago is when faster-than-light space travel was developed, which led to the colonization of warmer planets where people could grow more food."

She paused. _What happened next? _The silence dragged on and she saw the Admiral looking at her. She decided to skip that part to end the awkward silence.

"The Chiss Empire invaded Csuna for a unified planet, and the Pavtopas were all killed." Which was a good thing because the teacher told the class a story in which the Pavtopas tried to eat children. "Later the Chiss Empire became the Chiss Ascendancy, and it was the start of the ATA calendar, for After the Ascendancy.

"In 3107 ATA the planet Sarvchi starts -Eek!" She jumped at the unexpected noise behind her.

"My apologies," the Headmaster said. He had dropped his now-empty glass on the floor.

"Please continue," the Admiral said.

"The planet Sarvchi started a war to become independent of the Ascendancy and loses. The planet Naporar does become independent in 5543 ATA, but the Nuodo family takes over about 70 years later and rejoins the Ascendancy. Oh, and there was the invention of the Communications Network and about five thousand years ago was the start of the second and current Ice Age."

That was very good," the Admiral said. "Now, I want you to take your time and focus on this datapad and tell me what you think is on it." She picked up a datapad from the desk with its grey back facing Er'isa.

This was not a test she was expecting. It couldn't be a mere guessing game.

The answer came to her -she could see it clearly. "Three birds. There are three birds," she said.

The Admiral turned the datapad toward her to show that the answer was actually three circles.

_I got the number right, that has to count._

_ "_Thank you Er'isa, that was impressive. You may go now." Is "that was impressive" the same thing as "I am wowed?" She hoped they were wowed, but earlier she left something out, and she said birds instead of circles.

"Alright children," Headmaster Alva-rez-ot said in the cafeteria during dinnertime, "I regret to inform you that there was nobody chosen to join the Defense Fleet, but you will be pleased to know that we will be taking a field trip to the museum next week."

_Not _chosen? _Nobody _was chosen? That means _she _wasn't chosen.

All around her the noise became louder because the other kids were excited about the field trip because it was rare that they got to spend time outside of the orphanage, but she felt like crying.

Er'isa pulled back her chair slowly so it wouldn't make a loud noise that would draw attention to her. She headed to the bathroom but when two kids came out she turned to a different direction. _I want to be alone! _Going further down the hall she rushed up the stairs and went to her room.

Er'isa was under her bed trying to cry silently but sometimes a sob would come out, but she became quiet when the door opened.

"Er'isa, are you in here?" Admiral Ar'alani said.

Why did it have to be the Admiral? Er'isa did not want her of all people to see her as a crybaby.

"Er'isa, I know you're under the bed. Why don't you come out from under there?"

"I don't want to."

"May I remind you that I am an Admiral of the Defense Fleet?"

"But you don't want me, so I can stay under here."

"That's not true!"

"It is so!"

"Won't you please come out so we can talk?"

Er'isa crawled out and the Admiral placed her arm around her.

"Sometimes life doesn't go the way we want it to, and the only thing you can do is try to make the best of the situation you are in."

"I don't think that's true."

"It may feel sad and disappointing now, but for you things will get better. Being in the Defense Fleet can be hard, and now you can have a normal childhood."

"That's not what I want." _She doesn't get it._

"You can join when you grow up, or by then you'll find something else you'll want to do."

"Okay," Er'isa said, but she didn't believe it. More importantly, she's still going to be lonely.

"I have a mission I must do, but when I come back I'll see you again."

"Okay," she said again, still feeling sad and disappointed. What had she done wrong, and how was she going to leave the orphanage now?


End file.
